We left the Opera House and headed down Boulevard des Italiens. This is where we saw the Academie de Musique, which is the top picture. Lining the top of the building are busts of famous composers like Bethoven and Mozart. When we got closer, I got a picture of each bust with their names.
We went up the Rue de Clichy that took us into area of the artists, or bohemians, where we saw the Moulange Rouge (second picture) where the CanCan was created and the movie Moulin Rouge was filmed. I'll be honest, I expected something big and if you're not paying attention you miss it. We continued on to the Gare du Nord, which is their main train station. It looked like an ant hill with people coming and going with their luggage. Another few blocks and we reached the Gare de l'Est, which is another train station. They told the story of how a queen was coming in (I have to confess, I remember Marie Antoinette and Napoleon and all the other Kings escape me) and the train station she was coming into wasn't considered appropriate for someone of her stature, so they laid special track to the Gare de l'Est so she would arrive at an appropriate train station.
We made a circle to head back to where I was a picked up and passed the Porte St-Martin and Porte St-Denis. These are arches that remind you of small versions of the Arc du Triomphe and were actually entrances to the city at one time. We passed Pizza Hut, McDonalds (2 actually in short span), Starcucks and Hard Rock cafe before reaching the point where I changed buses to head towards the museums and Eiffel Tower. We went down the Ave de l'Opera and saw another opera house and passed the Palais Royal to arrive at the entrance of the Louvre, which is structure that creates mini tunnels that are just big enough for the buses (3rd picture) and I surmise were built because the Louvre was originally a military complex and until recently housed many of the ministries of the French govenrment. Once through we could see the Louvre complex and the pyramid (4th picture). From the Louvre we went across the Seine past the Conciergie. It got its name because it became a prison and the name was derived from the staff who took care of the prisoners, or the Concierge. We continued on to Notre Dame, which was just amazing. From there we went along the Seine River past several museums including the Musee d'Orsay. We crossed the river and went on to the Champs-Elysee and up to the Arc de Triomphe. Looking up the Champs-Elysee was amazing. It was a Friday mid afternoon and we just crawled up the three lane street to enter the free-for-all around the arc. Lots of little cars but they have the courage of a semi truck. In addition, all the motorcycle riders weave in and out of the cars trying to move forward.
From there we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. I read a travel post from someone who said going to the top was OK, but don't forget to look at the tower, that is what is really amazing. Now I know what they meant. As you approach it you can see it rise above the buildings. As you get closer it looks amazing, the you drive up to it and it is awe inspiring. They said (we have a recorded tour available in 11 languages) that the Tower was built for an exposition as the tallest structure in the world and after the fair was over, angry Parisians wanted the "eye sore" torn down. Slowly support for it grew and it remained.
We continued along the loop and passed the Hotel Biron, which is now the Musee Rodan. The hotel was abandoned for years and artists moved in. The state finally bought it and Rodan donnated his paintings in return of the favor that they would never be removed from the building and thus it became the Musee Rodan.
We passed the Musee de l'Armee with a row of cannons in front of it. We were supposed to stop here and I was going to catch the bus that would take me to the Latin Section, but it turns out our driver was preoccupied with her cell phone and we didn't stop. Actually, she didn't even turn on our audio, I learned a lot today when I was coming back from Bastille and Montparnasse tours and we had a driver who was actually paying attention. So I retraced a small part of one of the tours then walked over to the hotel where I met Cindy and Lon Bruso for dinner (last picture)
We walked around the Latin Section and had cheese and bread and wine and beer served by a young man from Columb who spoke French and Spanish but very little English so we ordered in Spanish. We continued to wander through the Latin Section, which was narrow streets and cobblestone streets and lots and lots of restaurants, very few of which were latin. There were Gyros and Greek and Morrocon. We saw a suckling pig on a spit and later on saw a lamb on a spit. We finally settled on a place where we had the menu prix. I had a Sangria that was almost as good as the Sangria my sister Cindy and I had in a Chilean restaurant (NY), snails in the shell (a first for me) they were yummy but now I understand how Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman could send one flying across the room. We all had beouf bourguignon with noodles and it was amazing. Cindy and I both had creme brulee, which was truly the best I've ever had and Lon had this amazing trio of sherbets that tasted like a bowl of fruit each sherbet was made from. They walked me to catch a cab and it was a full moon over the Seine and the moon appeared to be sitting next to Notre Dame which was lit up, it really looked amazing.
I'm working on an online album of my pictures and will share with anyone who is interested. I'll write about today and post more pictures tomorrow. Since I haven't figured out what button in French lets me preview this, I'm just posting and if I missed a word/missspelled a word, I apologize in advance.
Nice pictures! Seems like you and Cindy are having great time. :)
ReplyDelete"Happy Easter"! Have fun, love you :)
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